Desktop freezes with pink and green pixelated lines

[tms90]

Hello,

I recently purchased a barbones kit, slapped it together and now i am experiencing freezes with pink and green pixelated streaks going across.

On the first occurence the computer shut down on its own then restarted, the same freeze occured several times shortly after logging into windows.

I have tried switching around the ram which seems to work for a while but then the freezes come back within a few hours or so. Also i do not have a dedicated graphics card.

system info

MB Name:Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BIOS Version :
CPU Name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Memory information :Total physical memory 3990 MB
OS information :Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit version
CD version information :Intel 7 Series Utility DVD 1.04 B12.0525.1

 

[Raiddinn]

Take out 1 ram stick and see if the problem still happens. If it does, take out the remaining stick and put the one back in that you took out first.

If the problem still persists, put the RAM back in, download MemTest86+, use a program like ImgBurn to deconstruct the ISO and copy it to a CD, and then boot with the CD in the drive.

What kind of PSU do you have and what kind of case do you have, btw?

 

[tms90]

Thanks Raiddin,

PSU: ULTRA LSP 650 ATX

Case: Thermaltake Commander MSI

I've marked each stick of ram and am now just giving it some time before i switch it out to test for a bad stick. The computer has gone as long as 12 hours without any freezes then it will just decide to act up.

I'll try out the MemTest and get back

 

[Raiddinn]

Let me know how the RAM results turn out.

You can just use the CD to test each stick individually as well.

It would require you to do nothing else with your computer during the time of the test, that is why I suggested doing that part last, but if that is acceptable the results can probably be gained faster that way.

 

[tms90]

I ran the Memtest 86+ twice, each time using only one of the 2 sticks. No errors either time. Also the computer seems to run fine with only using 1 stick.

Its only when using the 2 sticks the Computer seems to freeze with the pixelated screen. I have yet to do the Memtest with both sticks. I've read about the voltage setting possibly being the issue and am trying to find a way to check this.

If it isn't the voltage i literally have no clue what the problem could be otherwise.

Any other possibilities you can think of?

 

[Raiddinn]

Run the test with both sticks.

It is possible there is a bad RAM slot on the motherboard. If both of the sticks were tested OK in the same physical slot, whichever other slot one of them was in could be failing.

If you run the test with both sticks and errors happen, that would lean more towards bad RAM slot.

Do you just have two RAM slots, or are there more? If there are more than two, you can try just sticking the 2nd one in any of the other slots than you usually have it in and test then. This could break dual channel mode if you have that active, but the difference is extremely minor, anyway.

If you think your voltage regulators are having problems, take the side of the case off and aim a big AC oscillating fan into the case, that would cool off the voltage regulators some and perhaps enable stable operation. If it does, then you may need more side fans or some fix like that.

 

[tms90]

there are 4 slots, 2 white and 2 blue. I've currently been testing the 2 sticks in the white slots, 1 and 2(as recommended via the Gigbyte Manual). I pulled them and put them in the blue slots 3 and 4, where i also got the same computer freeze. I was able to run mem test once through with 2 Memory sticks and they passed without errors.

I have used both sticks 1 at a time in every different slot of a couple hours a piece and have found no error running just the individual sticks.

I've contacted the retailer and they have agreed to exchange the mobo. Hope im not jumping the gun on this. If the problem persists after that, i suppose i'll move on to exchanging the Ram, and then the power supply.

 

[Raiddinn]

How many passes did the RAM go through when you did memtest with both of them in at the same time?

 

[tms90]

Ok so last night before i went to bed i started the MemTest with both sticks in slots 1 and 2 (white slots). 20 min. in i got an error on test 7

Error Info:

Test----pass------------- Failing Address----------------Good----------- Bad ---------------- Err-bits--------Count Chan
7----------0-----------0005cbd837c - 1483.8mb-----439e649e------ 639e649e ---------20000000 ----------1

This error occurred probably 20 minutes in or so, then memtest ran for 12+ hours without any other errors.

 

[Raiddinn]

Could still be a bad slot or bad ram. Need to try testing in other combinations of slots to get more data.

 

[tms90]

So i finally gave up, ran over to staples and grabbed the only ram they had on the shelf. Indeed it was a ram problem. After i popped in the new ram, the machine hasn't even flinched.

Thanks for all your help Raiddinn, i feel like i've learned alot!

 

[tms90]

Best answer selected by tms90.